Graduate School

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>>18592373
This guy thinks that people go into Harvard with just good grades and run of the mill recs.

>>18592392
Wow that was some good advice telling me what I should do to maybe have a shot

>>18592425
Ok fine. I'm feeling generous today. Go and see if any of your professors had any experience in any competitive Uni like Yale, Harvard or even duke, did they do their postdoc there? Did they do their PhD there? Best, did they lecture there? Then apply to that programme and ask them to personally to write a rec for you and ask them what it's like studying there and add that to your personal letter on how the school's good for you based on someone who had done it there. You know what others do not know about this school, and not everyone has a professor that had experience there this puts you in the 10% whose applying there in this manner, thus increasing your chance of getting in by 90% of those who fight in the normal gauntlet crapshoot to get in, like you originally intentioned to.

no way to know unless you do your best and apply, however instead of looking at the name of the school you really should know what you want to specialize in within your field and go to the school that has a strong focus in that

>>18592392
>high schooler thinks undergrad and postgrad are the same, or that they look for the same things in applicants, or that the acceptance rates are even close

gotta be 18 to post here, I'm afraid

>>18592459
I came from a competitive private school. I know for one that many got into Harvard and Brown because of being legacy kiddies, if you're so deluded into thinking Uni admission is this equal playing field where everyone has equal probability of getting in. Same thing goes for grad school, I'm doing my masters in a prestigious university, I know that had it weren't for my past professor's invaluable rec because he was a fellow there, I wouldn't have gotten in despite how high my grades were. Maybe you should be the one growing up and thinking Uni admission is all sunshine and rainbows and everyone has an equal chance of getting in.

>>18592472
Why dont you grow up. Just because you're kissing your profs ass doesn't mean the playing field isn't level. Doesn't anyone here give good advice?

>>18592484
Well whatever, you're the one trying to get into a prestigious Uni, not me. It is up to you whether to heed my advice or not, despite asking on it. Hope you get in nonetheless, cheers.

>>18592489
lol whoever you responded to wasnt even me (OP) thanks for the advice anyway!

>>18592511
Welcome bro.

>>18592373
Professor writing here:

The top tier universities assume high grades and some work experience from all applicants. I can tell you that the single most significant part of your application will be the letters of reference, and the more detailed the better, so choose your professors carefully.

"He was in my class and got an A" will get you nowhere. You need a letter that goes on to say something like "In his major research project he came up with a new way of [doing something] that might, with more development, change the way [something] is done" In short, they want two things in a letter - evidence that the prof really noticed and knew you and suggestions that you're a boy genius.

By all means apply to the top tier. But remember that on the grad level it is the department that matters more than the university as a whole. A major stste university or even an otherwise second-tier school could be doing the cutting-edge work you want to attach yourself to

>>18592594
Thank you!
I am applying to a few lesser known programs as well (Im judging schools based off of labs that are interesting to me), I just wanted to know what schools are actually looking for! My one issue with finding schools is that what I want to do (Design novel organisms using synthetic biology for practical real-world applications, specifically environmental issues) is fairly specific, and a lot of the schools that even offer synthetic biology programs/ concentrations in the US are fairly high ranked institutions. That is why I'm worried about getting into a top-tier school.